The New York Yankees still need an infielder, and until they sign one, the conversation will be centered around whether Brian Cashman added enough this winter to win the World Series. With time left before Opening Day, the Yankees can still add an infielder and improve this offense, and their lack of love for Oswald Peraza or DJ LeMahieu leads me to believe they’re still shopping for options.
Whether it’s through free agency or the trade market, we’re going to put together three infielders who could make an impact on the team’s odds of winning a title in 2025. They aren’t stars, largely because the infield market lacks a true game-changer, but they can improve the floor of the roster and give the Yankees a well-rounded lineup that can actually run nine deep with the right progressions from other key players.
Looking In the Division For a Solid Infield Bat
Why Trade Him Away? Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals originally, Ramon Urias broke into the big leagues with the Baltimore Orioles, putting up a 109 wRC+ and 5.2 fWAR across 429 games. The Orioles have always featured him to some extent even when he’s struggled or young studs have stepped up and taken some of his reps. With Jackson Holliday in the mix for good now it seems, the Orioles may be more willing to trade away the veteran infielder and improve another area of the roster.
Their pitching staff won’t be tinkered much with given that only Yennier Cano, Felix Bautista, Grayson Rodriguez, and Dean Kremer can be optioned, but they could always add a pitcher they like with MiLB options. Perhaps Clayton Beeter, who has moved into a bullpen role for good according to Matt Blake, could profile as a bullpen weapon worth targeting for the Orioles. With six years of control, they’re getting a decent player back with upside who can provide cheap innings in potentially high-leverage situations depending on how he develops.
Coby Mayo could make the team with Ramon Urias off of it, and when Jorge Mateo returns to the roster they’ll have fewer tough decisions to make there as well.
Why Trade For Him? Well, the Yankees need an infielder. Duh. In all seriousness though this is a weird fit given that Ramon Urias is a better defender at second than he is at third base, and the Yankees really like having Jazz Chisholm play second base. I wouldn’t care either way, and Urias has shown the ability to handle the hot corner well at times so maybe they tinker with that in Spring Training. Either way, the bat makes so much sense for the Yankees given that he’s a right-hander hitter whose profile actually fits the Bronx very well especially compared to Camden Yards.
JacobE_STL’s wOBA on contact estimator based on ballpark is not only a super cool tool, it also illustrates a massive gap in expected performance based on the ballpark dimensions Ramon Urias had to deal with. The gap between his estimated wOBA at Camden and Yankee Stadium in this model is greater than the gap between Alex Bregman’s estimated wOBA in Boston instead of the Bronx. That’s pretty incredible when you realize that Yankee Stadium has never been a spot Bregman was built for and Fenway looks like it was designed just for him.
Ramon Urias is a good hitter who would hit more home runs away from the horrendous wall he dealt with in Baltimore and the short right-field porch, one that fits his all-fields approach. He won’t be a superstar, but he’s a solid starter in the infield and had a 123 wRC+ when playing away from the terrible dimensions that Camden Yards had for right-handed hitters last season.
An Addition That Makes the Yankees Go ‘OMG’
See what I did there? I’m a hilarious guy.
Why Sign Him? The Yankees could use someone with a good glove that can hit LHP, that’s pretty much my floor for what could be a solid upgrade in the infield. Oswaldo Cabrera’s strong glove at 3B paired with his bat against RHP makes him a capable platoon partner with Jose Iglesias, who is starting to run out of time to find a home. He may have believed the Mets would call after the news of a catastrophic shoulder injury to Nick Madrigal, but they don’t seem to be that in on bringing back pop star Candelita after a miracle run.
You should expect a pretty harsh regression from his incredible 2024 season, in fact, I would be stunned if his wRC+ as a full-time starter sat above 100. The Yankees could use Iglesias in a role that could make him a productive player, and that’s as a platoon partner against left-handed pitching. He’s excellent against southpaws, posting strong results with good underlying metrics throughout his Major League career. The Yankees could guarantee at least elite defensive production at the position, and if they can get a ~100 wRC+ from this duo we could see a 2-3 WAR outcome.
There’s a chance that without the Mets involved and with his market dwindling, the Yankees could pick up Jose Iglesias at $3 million on a one-year deal, which would come with a total tax hit of around $6 million. Is he a monumental upgrade over DJ LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza? No, but he has proven to be a productive player for a team in need of infield depth, and that is more than either of those two can say. He has at least 1.0 fWAR in every big league season he’s played since 2013, that stretch of consistency matters.
Keep preventing runs, deepen the lineup, and show that you’re going to do *something* about the issues they currently have in the infield. Seems like a win.
READ MORE: Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton situation takes a very odd turn
The Yankees’ Most-Discussed Trade Target
Why Trade Him Away? After everyone in Minnesota expected to have their ownership situation settled around Opening Day, news dropped that Matt Ishiba would end his pursuit of acquiring the Twins. This could have some serious effects on how they navigate their payroll in the waning weeks of Spring Training, and Willi Castro could be an unfortunate casualty of a potential cost-cutting move. Furthermore, the team’s infield depth could open the door for them to trade away the super utilityman in the final year of his contract.
He’s currently projected to DH for the Twins according to FanGraphs, although I think they’d rather have him in the outfield than Trevor Larnach. Could that position be better allotted to someone such as Jose Miranda or Edouard Julien, both of whom are young emerging players on their roster with multiple years of control remaining? The Yankees could entice the Twins with a prospect or someone who can improve their roster immediately, and the money they free up from trading Castro could allow them to sign a replacement on the market.
Why Trade For Him? The Yankees have a hole at third base and they could have holes in other areas of the roster depending on Giancarlo Stanton’s situation. Willi Castro’s versatility allows him to be their guy at third base, but he could also get some reps in right field and allow Aaron Judge to DH, playing someone like Oswaldo Cabrera at the hot corner against a tough RHP. Aaron Boone would love to have that kind of flexibility with their lineup, and Castro’s bat fits the Bronx extremely well.
Willi Castro’s ability to pull the ball in the air to right field will make him a strong bottom-of-the-order threat capable of hitting the long ball. He won’t hit 25-30 HRs, but getting ~17-18 from Willi Castro would be a step up from whatever they’re going to get internally from any of the other candidates. There’s a real world where he puts up a 110 wRC+ with a strong glove and good baserunning value, and that would be a nice change of pace from the usual approach of letting a position rot until the season ends.
The Yankees have mentioned that getting more athletic is a priority; so why not add a good defender who can run the bases well and do some damage on contact? It just feels like a natural fit for the roster, one that makes them even more difficult to defend with runners on as they could put someone in motion at any moment. Extending the lineup to have someone bat 7th or 8th and push Anthony Volpe to the nine-hole when they’re fully healthy is also a win as well; last season the Yankees had him hitting sixth on Opening Day!
I’m not sure what the Twins would want from the Yankees, but maybe a combination of Rafael Flores and JC Escarra could entice a Minnesota team that lacks catching depth.